Only two of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 ties were truly up in the air heading into the second legs, and the one between Chelsea and Galatasaray mostly stopped being interesting four minutes into the game at Stamford Bridge, when Samuel Eto'o scored. Only the Manchester United - Olympiacos tie remained competitive to the end. That should change in the quarterfinals.
UEFA Champions League draw 2014: Could that have gone any better?
The quarterfinals will be more competitive than the Round of 16, but the semifinals will be more competitive than that. Isn’t that exactly what we want out of the Champions League?
Not only should that set of ties give way to some very competitive ties in the quarters, but the draw did everyone even more favors on Friday, keeping the true best of the best separated. Two ties are potential blowouts while two others should be hyper-competitive. The two strongest sides avoided each other, while the strong dark horses drew each other, meaning they should be fairly battle-tested when they inevitably face one of the giants. This really could not have gone any better.
The best thing about the potential blowouts -- the Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich vs. Manchester United ties -- is that they are not obvious blowouts. Dortmund and United have both under-performed this season, but Dortmund are still one of the world's top counter-attacking sides, while David Moyes hasn't had much of an opportunity to sit back and break against a team that passes them off the park. The most cynical of United fans have complained that Moyes has turned United into Everton, but for the purposes of a Champions League tie against Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich, there are considerably worse things to be.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich appear set for an eventual collision course and it’s difficult to see how either of them is going to win the Champions League without going through each other, but the other two ties could produce adversaries that will be much more prepared to face them than they would have been in this round.
Paris Saint-Germain got extremely close to upsetting Barcelona in last year's Champions League, but they're a much better side this season. Edinson Cavani has added a new dimension to their attack while drawing the best out of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi, and the PSG midfield and defense are improved too. Thiago Silva is still arguably the best defender in the world and another year of experience has done a lot for Lucas Moura and Marco Verratti. They've joined Europe's elite, but they're yet to face an elite side in this competition, and face their stiffest test yet in any competition when they play Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
While there's no doubt that Chelsea isn't quite the class of Bayern and Real, Mourinho has done more with less in the past, and this Chelsea team has put on great defensive performances against favored opponents in this competition without him. And just like they are PSG's stiffest test yet, PSG are also the best team they've played so far, save for perhaps Manchester City domestically -- and they beat City twice. Whoever emerges from this quarterfinal will be ready for a step-up in competition.
The same probably goes for the one tie between two sides from the same country -- especially if they draw Real Madrid. This weekend’s edition of El Clasico might show us otherwise, but Barcelona were solid in their first meeting with Los Merengues this season. Atleti have already played them twice and have been excellent in both games. Playing Bayern is a different story, but Atleti might be the team best equipped for an upset of the Bavarians, while Barcelona would at least produce some excellent narratives, even if they lose 7-0 again.
There is not only a lot to like about these four ties, but a lot to like about how they set up the competition going forward. It’s a nearly perfect Champions League for the neutral.
Champions League Quarterfinals
- Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid
- Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund
- Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea
- Bayern Munich vs. Manchester United
See More:
